Because He Was There
by rw4life
Summary: Please read & review. Short Dasey. It's summertime, and after a couple of parties, Derek and Casey get to know each other better : COMPLETE!
1. Life Couldn't Get Any Better

There he was

AN/ Well, I've started a new story, and unlike my other stories, I plan on finishing this one. I have chapter 2 done already, but I'm not posting 'till I get enough reviews. I'm not sure what 'enough' is yet. But I'll know it when I see it. SO, without further ado, I give you…

A DISCLAIMER! (lol)

I've never really done these things before, so basically, If I owned LWD I'd be rich and happier and life would be better general. So, I obviously don't own it….The End, or rather,

THE BEGINNING!

**Life Couldn't Get Any Better**

There he was. Stuck 'babysitting' just cause he was 'grounded' while Nora and his dad were at dinner and Casey was out at the party he was supposed to be the life of. Life couldn't get any worse.

"Marti! BED!" "NO! DRESS-UP FIRST!" Yup, life could not get any worse...

--

Though parties were not normally her scene, Casey had to admit that this was one of Emily's better ideas. Sure Emily had left her ALL ALONE to chat up a 'hottie at 12 o'clock' And SURE she knew only a few people, but life was great! Not a Derek in sight. Plus that cute boy in the corner of the room was TOTALLY just eying her, and there was no way she could embarrass herself when Derek wasn't near. You know what? Casey was gonna take a risk and strut casually to that corner. Yup, and she was gonna look good doing it. She walked across the dance floor, but of course there HAD to be a rug on the floor, and her foot just HAD to get caught in it, and the music just HAD to pause at that time so that everyone would witness the huge crash. Oh look, the cute boy was laughing. At her. Yup, life could not get any better...

--

He had finally gotten Marti to bed when the phone decided to ring. Thank god Marti was already fast asleep. He ran to the phone as quickly as he could, so it would stop ringing. And there on the other line was...

"Casey?"

"Umm, Derek? Do you think you could pick me up? I don't know where Emily is and I REALLY wanna come home."

'Man she sounded desperate' Derek thought with an evil grin. Adopting his most innocent voice Derek responded.

"But Casey, what about the CHILDREN?"

"I'm sure they're responsible enough to take care of themselves for 15 minutes...at least Lizzie is. And Marti should be sleeping, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't know Casey. It's quite a drive, and I was just considering going to bed myself...you know, since its just SO late..."

"Derek, you're not fooling anyone. Especially with that last comment, its only 10 and you know it. You just like seeing me miserable."

"Well I can't SEE you, but you got the gist of it. Congrats, OK, bye!"

"NO, Derek...please? Just help me out this once, I need you."

Wow, maybe she was more desperate than he thought.

"Alright, you owe me..." Defeated, he hung up.

"Lizzie, Edwin, don't burn down the house while I'm gone." Derek said, referring to the two preteens sitting on the couch.

"Where are you going?" asked Lizzie

"And how much are you paying us?" asked Edwin

"I need to pick up Casey from the party, and the only pay you're getting is the promise that I won't pound you for even suggesting I pay you. Got it?"

The two nodded their heads dumbly.

"Great. Be back in a few."

--

Casey was sitting on the front porch of the huge house when she saw the Prince coming down the road. Derek parked in the driveway and Casey practically ran to meet him. But Derek had other plans. He came out of the car and shut the door behind him. Casey was confused.

"Umm, Derek, where are you going? Let's just leave."

"Nope. I'm already down here, might as well enjoy myself. Hang out a bit."

"But you're grounded!"

"And you owe me. Now if you really want to avoid the party, you can stay in the car."

"FINE! But I warn you. If you leave me here, the car and I will be on our way home."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

Derek turned around and began walking to the porch. Casey considered leaving, but then realized Derek had the keys. She really didn't want to go in, and she was now locked out of the car. Derek turned to her, smirking.

"You coming?"

Casey looked at him with her sad blue eyes and didn't respond. She simply shuffled over to him. She reached for the doorknob and now Derek had this strange heavy feeling in his gut.

"Casey?"

"Huh?"

"Let's go home."

--

They couldn't believe it.

They KNEW that Derek was the type to use Casey as an excuse to go to the party. And when Casey and Derek came into the house only 20 minutes after Derek left, they were speechless to say the least. And when Edwin TRIED to speak he could only muster up some garbled gibberish (**AN/ Redundant, I know. But I couldn't help myself ******). Casey herself couldn't believe it, and their trip home was almost silent as she mulled over what just happened. She was surprised her head hadn't exploded yet. She muttered a quiet 'hi' before excusing herself to her room. She collapsed on the bed and thought 'Derek just missed the opportune moment to go to the party of THE YEAR. Because of me. And he didn't say anything about it. Didn't even mention the fact that 'she owed him' Why? Why?'

"Why?"

Casey found herself in his room asking the same question she had asked herself just moments ago.

Derek removed the headphones from his ears and placed them on the table.

"Care to knock?"

"Why?" she repeated

"Elaborate..."

Casey didn't even make a sarcastic remark about how his vocabulary was growing, she simply explained.

"You were inches from the party of the year. You convinced me to come with you regardless how I felt, and then you left. YOU decided to come home. So I'm asking, why? All the times you've played cruel pranks on me and _now_ you've decided to respect my wishes?"

"Are you wishing I hadn't? Because I can take you back."

"No, I don't. I just want to know why."

"How do you know it was out of 'respect for your wishes', for all you know, I did it for myself. Maybe I didn't feel like going."

"When seconds before you were positively set on going? I don't think so, and I'm not leaving 'till I hear the real reason." replied Casey, planting herself on Derek's bed, crossing her arms and growing more confident with every word. But the look that Derek gave her at that moment washed it all away, and suddenly she was very nervous. Almost scared.

"Oh really?"

"Umm, Y-ye-a"

And before she even had time to process what was going on, he had slung her over his shoulder and was walking casually to her room, ignoring her kicking, screaming and other protests.

He dumped her on her own bed and turned to walk away, before closing the door he turned around to face Case, who was sprawled on the bed belly up.

"Don't expect me to do anything for you if you continue questioning my motives," then lowering his voice to a whisper he continued to say; "because sometimes, _I _don't even know why I do the things I do." With that he shut the door leaving Casey, again, to her thoughts.

--

When George and Nora came home an hour later, the house was incredibly quiet. They went upstairs to check on the kids. Nora found Casey fast asleep, fully clothed and laying on top of all her covers. George found Derek asleep at his desk, head resting against his arms. George gently nudged Derek awake, and Derek stumbled to his bed, not even bothering to cover up. George chuckled to himself and left the room, quietly closing the door behind him. He found Nora in the hallway watching her sleeping daughter. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. How good it was to have found love.

--

The next morning Casey woke to the sound of a bird chirping by her window. She found herself in the clothes from the night before and tried to remember what had happened. A sudden realization hit her and she recalled her last thoughts before going to sleep; _just how much has Derek changed since the first time I met him?_

Casey picked out an outfit, took her towel and went to take a shower.

--

Derek woke up around noon, wiped the drool from his cheek and went downstairs. Nobody was home. They were kind enough to leave a note on the kitchen table;

_We went out for pancakes and didn't want to wake you guys._

_Won't be long, don't kill each other._

_-Nora_

"You guys?" he questioned. Just then, Casey walked down the stairs, drying her sopping wet hair.

"Oh, hey." she said, reaching into the fridge for orange juice.

"Hi?" He was incredibly surprised at the civility.

Casey was too. She poured herself a glass, while Derek watched, his head cocked to one side like a curious puppy.

"What?" she asked, "You want some?"

Derek simply nodded and took out another glass, which Casey took from him and poured OJ into.

"Thanks..." he mumbled. Casey shrugged, grabbed her glass and made her way to the living room, sitting on the couch. Derek followed and sat on his chair. They reached for the remote simultaneously and froze in mid-reach as their fingers brushed against each other. Derek recovered sooner and continued his reach for the remote, eventually turning to his favorite sports channel. And even though Derek had begun watching his hockey game, Casey made no protests and simply sat there, contemplating the strange feeling in her stomach, and why her fingers were still tingling from Derek's hand. Little did she know that Derek had felt it too.

--

AN/ Hope you liked it! I liked writing it…feedback is lovely. I'm waiting! Hurry up and review, don't read this pointless note, REVIEW!

**Well? What are you waiting for?**


	2. A Day Full of Surprises

**AN/ Just to let you guys know, I'M DYING FOR MORE REVIEWS!! And if I'm dead, then I can't post anymore and then all you people that read but REFUSED to review will feel guilty. Or SHOULD feel guilty, unless you're heartless creatures. In which case…I'm surprised.**

**So to all you 3 people that read and reviewed, THANKS. All you people that put me on alert, thanks, but some feedback would be nice too?**

**If you're stumped on what to say, you don't have to say much. Maybe let me know what you thought, what you think will happen next, if the characters are IN character…ANYTHING! ****Even awful hateful reviews are something…but try to stick to the nice ones, they make me happier. Lol. **

**WOW, longest note EVER! Props to those who read this far, I just hope you have enough reading left in you for…**

**A Day Full of Surprises**

It was 2 weeks later and things were back to normal in the McDonald -Venturi residence. Edwin and Lizzie continued their studies on behavioral patterns, Marti continued wearing her tiara around the house, Casey and Derek could be heard yelling throughout the house, and George and Nora remained perfectly oblivious to the strange tendencies of all their children.

This week, there was another summer party at a different friends house. Derek was un-grounded, and invited (of course), so he planned to attend. He only had one little problem…

"Come ON Casey! We're gonna be late!" he screamed through her door.

Nora had insisted that he bring her along, to get her out of the house since her recent break up with Max. Little did she care about Derek, and his break-up with Sally, and that maybe, just MAYBE he didn't want to deal with Casey that night.

"Geez Derek, calm down! It's just a party!"

"I know," he replied arrogantly "but just because people don't care if YOU come, people might miss me if I don't show up promptly…how long does it take you to get ready anyways?"

"I don't know what to wear! Mom sprung this up on me SO last minute I didn't have time to plan!"

"So last minute? She told you yesterday morning!"

"Your smart-alec comments aren't helping me choose!"

Derek didn't feel like yelling at her through the door anymore, so he let himself in.

"DE-REK! I could've been NAKED!"

"Well thank god you weren't. Now hurry up!"

"But I CAN'T! Just go without me…"

"Yeah, as much as I would like that, I can't. Or else dad won't let me go."

Dilemmas, dilemmas.

"Just wear your babe raider outfit, problem solved. Lets go."

" Why would I wear THAT again?"

"I don't know, people at school liked your outfit, and you might not look like a total loser if you wore it. Now let's go!" He repeated, trying to get her out of the house faster.

"Well, thanks I guess…"

"Yeah, You're welcome…" he responded.

This little exchange was followed by an awkward pause, which in turn was followed by…

"Well, if you want to get out of here soon, you should, umm probably get out. You know…so I can change?"

"Oh, OH, yeah. I'll just be out here, if you need anyth— No, I mean yeah, I'll be waiting. Downstairs…and hurry up!" he finished, trying to retain some tiny bit of dignity. It failed.

Five minutes later, Casey appeared at the top of the stairs, her hair was down and she looked stunning. Not that DEREK would ever admit that, but some guys at the party most likely would. At the foot of the stairs Casey was met with a 'Finally' from Derek and a 'You look lovely' from her mother.

--

The party did not turn out as great as he had suspected, and almost all the girls that he found remotely attractive were occupied by the time they arrived. Derek was forced to spend most of the party with Casey and Ralph, until Ralph went to talk up 'a hot chick' (ew) and Casey disappeared mysteriously. Never mind that he was THE Derek Venturi, he spent almost his entire night in a corner, by the punch bowl, begging for someone to talk to him. This is why he was almost relieved when Casey came up to him and asked to go home, a request he gladly accepted.

In the car however, he realized that Casey, was not her usual chipper self. At the next stop sign, Derek turned to look at her, and there she was, fiddling with her hands and staring out ahead.

"Hey Space-Case?" were the words that broke her out of her reverie.

"Umm, y-yeah?" she replied, still somewhat dazed and still staring at nothing.

"What's up with you? You're acting well, a hell of a lot kookier than usual…"

"Why do YOU care?" she snapped, reverting to her old self.

"I don't, not really. Well, not about you. But if whatever's bugging you makes you act all weird like this. Then it affects me, which is something I care about. Very much." He responded, as he pulled up the driveway.

Casey looked up at Derek with vacant eyes and proceeded to open the car door. She was stopped however, by a firm grip around her other arm, and the click of the car being locked automatically.

"Spill." Derek commanded, in a stern, forceful, yet bored tone. And just like that, a surprised but submissive Casey "spilt" her problem.

"At the party, I saw Max, and…I went to talk to him, because, well I thought we were still friends. I mean, we ended well. But when I got close enough to hear his conversation…he was saying some, awful things. And it hurt. I thought we were friends! I thought he was a good person, and…I guess everything I thought was a lie…" She finished, dejectedly, and finally succumbing her tears.

"Of course Max isn't a good person. He' a football jerk, be glad that you're not with him anymore." Derek replied, almost kindly…which was a shock. For the both of them.

Casey wiped away some tears and responded, "Thanks Derek, that means a lot to me. And, I'm sorry. I know you don't do tears, it's just…"

"It's fine. You aren't crying obnoxiously…"

"Excuse me?" she asked, almost giggling, "Is that even possible?"

"Well, yeah! You know those girls that cry like…like, WAAAAAHH!!" he concluded, flapping his arms around with an over exaggerated cry.

Now Casey was full on laughing, and Derek joined in. It was almost a 'feel good family moment,' except, neither felt the 'family' between them. Their laughter subsided, and they found themselves with the hint of a smile still etched on both their faces, looking into each other's eyes. The car seemed to be growing hotter, and suddenly Derek pulled his gaze away from Casey, taking the keys out of the ignition and unlocking the doors. Casey averted her eyes and bent down to retrieve the purse under her seat. They left the car in silence. Derek opened the backdoor and held it open for Casey before going through it himself. Casey ran up the stairs while Derek was left alone to explain to the questioning/concerned family it wasn't his fault they had come home early, and that he didn't do anything to make her upset. After having sufficiently answered several questions, Derek followed Casey's path up the stairs, and walked into her room.

"Yeah, yeah…I know, I owe you. But, I just couldn't face them right now…" She said upon his entrance.

"Yeah, it's fine. But seeing how I was forced to answer millions of questions from the fams, you think you could answer one of mine?"

Casey simply shrugged.

"What did Max say to make you so upset?"

"I figured this was coming…" she said " and you're gonna hate me and think I'm completely overreacting."

"Go on…" he said

"Well, he was talking to a bunch of his friends. About me. And, well, silly me, I heard him say that the thing with 'girls like me' is that we may seem 'keener and prude.' So I thought he was going to defend me, and instead…he said that it was up to 'guys like him.' To open 'girls like me.' Introduce me to my 'first real kiss', and then I'll open up, be prude no longer, making 'everyone else's' job heck of a lot easier…"

Derek's fists clenched and unclenched as she finished her story.

"What a jerk." He said, "I knew he was, but…you're not overreacting. Let me just tell you that."

Casey lunged at Derek, wrapping her arms around his waist. Derek's arms went up in protest, to which Casey responded with,

"Oh quit being a baby Derek, and hug me back." To which Derek surprisingly complied with. My, my, he certainly was filled with surprises today.

--

**Hope you liked, now review! It's nice of me to update, considering how awful I usually am about that stuff… so just return the kindness? THAANKSSSS**!


	3. All Good Things Come at a Price

Two months had passed since the last party and the kids were back in school

**AN/ So I was just watching Summer School Blues, and I noticed that in 2 Kisses One Party, Sally volunteers Derek to help with the party, and he gets mad, but he helps Casey out that summer without anyone asking him to…and no protest, hmmm…**

**On with notes about my story… I experienced a huge writers block on this one, but for once, I overcame it and continued to post. Keep the helpful reviews coming (to the people who are actually reviewing) and let me know what you think!**

**P.S. If you're going to favorite this story, you might as well leave me a comment too…it would make me feel very loved, and keep this story going.**

Two months had passed since the last party and the kids were back in school. Derek and Casey were stuck in three classes together, but they seemed to be getting along better. Well only a tiny, _tiny_ bit better, but still, even if it was only a slight change, it was good enough for George and Nora. This week, Casey was VERY excited for the weekend, and Stella Thurston's sweet 16. She had been counting down the days for almost a month, and couldn't wait for an occasion in which she could get dressed up. Of course, all good things come with a price, and Derek was invited too. So that Saturday approached ever so slowly for Casey, and when it arrived she was fully prepared, planned out and ready long before Derek. This time, it was Casey egging him to hurry up.

"Come ON Derek! You're a guy; it shouldn't take you this long. We're supposed to pick up Emily in less than 2 minutes, and I DON'T wanna be late…it'll ruin the entire night!"

"Wait, what did someone say to me once, OH right, I remember…" and then assuming his worst Casey impression he said "Calm down! It's just a party!"

"Urgh! You are so INFURIATING!"

"Oh, you mean…handsome?" he retorted smoothly, stepping out of the bathroom.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Casey, but that relief soon turned to anger as she saw what he was wearing "De-REK! It said semi-formal on your invite! No T-shirts, no sneakers and no jeans!!"

"Ooops, I guess it must've just…slipped my mind. Aww, now I'll just have to change again, won't I?"

"You did this on purpose didn't you? You just HAD to bug me? Really? You're PATHETIC!" with that, she rushed to his room and flung open his closet.

"HEY! Hey, hey, hey, hey! MY closet, MY stuff, DON'T touch!" He exclaimed rushing down the hallway after her.

He was too late. A frustrated Casey was already rummaging through his clothing, and throwing all clothes she deemed unsatisfactory, on the ground.

"And now you're making a mess in my room? Come on, Case…NOT nice!"

"Pfft, you're room is a sty and will always be a sty no matter what. Especially considering the PIG that lives in it." She turned to him "HERE! Wear this, and try not to be a SNAIL too!" She said, throwing a blue button down shirt and black slacks at him.

"Nice one Casey, really clever...a snail. Creative." He said sarcastically as he ushered her out of his room and shut the door.

He was ready in less than 5 minutes, and looked pretty good too. Not that CASEY would ever admit it… though she had to confess, she picked out some pretty good outfits on whim. Even if it was only a shirt and pants.

"Alright, we go to Emily's 10 minutes late and then to the party!"

The group arrived half an hour late and was escorted in by a very harried Mrs. Thurston. The entire backyard and living room had been made into dance floors. Emily and Casey went outside, while Derek went in search of his friends, Sam and Ralph.

"So, I think that I am now COMPLETELY over Derek. That car ride proved it to me." Emily stated.

"Well, that's good, me too. I mean, about Max. I think I'm completely over Max. Derek was right. He was always a jerk."

"Whoa, what was that? Derek was _right_? And since when do you talk to him about Max anyways?" asked a VERY surprised Emily

" It's not a regular occurrence, believe me. We just talked, once but that's it. I don't have like daily discussions with him about Max."

"Mmhmm, I'm starting to think that you two may actually end up getting along."

"What? Nah…we're still just…just US, Derek and Casey."

"Aww, that sounds cute together."

"Emily! No!" A very surprised, annoyed and worried Casey screeched

"Relax, Casey, I was just joking around. Though, you did get very defensive…" Before Casey could argue again, Emily continued, "in any case, It's good that you're over Max, because he's over there." she gestured to a corner in which Max appeared to be getting awfully cozy with one of the cheerleaders at school.

"Ok, maybe not completely over him…" sighed a sad Casey while looking at the couple.

"Oh, no Casey, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pointed it out… lets dance, think about something else, okay?"

"Umm, yeah sure." The girls proceeded to the dance floor.

Derek had finally found Sam, who said that Ralph was off with his 'date'. They stood by the buffet table until Derek saw a good-looking girl across the room and went over to ask her to dance. The girl turned around, it was Sally. She had come to the party with Ralph. Derek backed away from the room slowly, when he got to the doorway, he turned around and made a run for it. He made to the front porch before he stopped, out of breath. He didn't feel like starting anything with Ralph tonight, and he sure as hell didn't want to talk to Sally. He thought he was over Sally, but seeing her again. It was something he couldn't handle, he was never good at dealing with feelings, and there they were, chasing him. He wanted to leave, now. He made it up the driveway when he remembered…

"Casey."

Instead of just leaving, Derek turned back around and walked to the house. He came up to the house again and there she was... in the bitter cold, sitting on the front porch. He made his way over, and sat down next to her.

"Hey…I was wondering when you'd realize that I was here" she said

"Aww, poor Casey, invisible and not a party girly?" for some reason, Derek didn't get pleasure out of mocking her this time. And Casey wasn't up to retorting.

"No D, not today…"

Derek was surprised, no snippy comeback, nothing. And he didn't even know why he made fun of her in the first place…it wasn't like he wanted to. Great, now he felt like he had to make up for it…

"You cold?" he asked, watching her shivering frame.

"Not really…yeah. You?"

"Not at all actually." He responded, taking a seat next to her. And she believed him. She could feel the heat practically radiating off of him. She subconsciously inched closer.

"H-how the hell can you be so hot?"

"Hehe, I get asked that ALL the time."

"Oh shut up Derek, you know what I mean…"

"No, I don't, I thought you were referring to my dashingly good looks and hot bod."

Casey gave him a look of revulsion, though it was less disgusted than it would usually be. She sighed.

"Well, I'm freezing."

"Well, you should go inside then…"

"I REALLY don't want to."

"Same."

They were left in a comfortable silence, with an occasional shiver from Casey. Derek grew tired of having to put up with her shaking and threw his jacket over her, indeed, freezing shoulders.

"Thanks…" she whispered

"Don't mention it. Really. Like don't mention it, ever. Plus it's annoying sitting next to an extremely shaky person."

"Fine, no one will know that you can be even remotely kind…and 'shaky?' really?" she inquired.

"Do you WANT me to take my jacket back?"

"No." Casey said hurriedly, as she clutched the jacket closer to her, as if someone would come and swipe it at any given moment. At this Derek chuckled, Casey loosened her grip.

"It smells nice." She muttered

"Does it?" asked Derek, completely casually "Because I thought I was a pig…and pigs don't smell nice do they?" he asked as if talking to a five year old.

Casey was surprised; she didn't think he'd heard her. But she recovered quickly and said,

"Yeah, I thought it would smell like that. But it smells like worn leather. I love that smell." She was rambling, again.

"Really? I thought you'd be the type to love the smell of flowers and perfume and gross sweet smelly stuff." He hesitated, "I like the smell of leather too."

They sat again in silence, when Derek remembered why he had come back to the house.

"Hey, wanna go home?" he asked

"Though I would absolutely love that. We can't." Derek gave her a questioning look, forcing her to elaborate, "First of all, we have to wait for Emily, and second…they haven't served cake yet, and it would be rude to leave. They said they'd serve in like 2 more minutes." She finished, checking her watch.

"Who cares about rude?" Derek huffed "Let's go home anyways!"

Casey simply gave him a look and then, in an effort to end his protests, said, (while rolling her eyes) "From what I hear, the cake is delicious…you wouldn't wanna miss out on that, would you?"

"No," sighed Derek, missing her tone "I guess I wouldn't."

"Then we should go in now," she said, "or we might miss the cake."

Derek quickly got up, and rushed to the door. Casey chuckled thinking 'typical Derek,' as she followed him.

Neither realized that Derek had forgotten to take his jacket back.

--

**AN/ This time I'm seriously not updating if I don't get enough reviews. And now I know what 'enough' is. MORE THAN 4!! (lol) Last time I couldn't help but update, but this time, I'll fight the urge.**

**Who thought that the writers were using 6 ½ as a way to dissuade us Daseyers?**

**Although I thought it was cute that Derek used Casey's phrase about the goat. Lol.**


	4. Something's Up

**AN/ I just figured out that I have almost no idea where this story is going… but I have been having lots of Dasey dreams lately, so some aspects might come from that, and you may see many more LWD stories from me in the near future! :)  
****Anyways, this is the most diligent I've been about posting regularly, so please continue to support me with your feedback! ONWARDS!**

5 minutes later, the two were seated next to Emily and across from Sam, who noted that Casey was wearing Derek's jacket, but chose to remain silent. Mr. And Mrs. Thurston came out of the kitchen carrying a huge, pink birthday cake. A chorus of 'Happy Birthday' started as the lights went dim and the candles illuminated the room.

Emily was looking at Casey in awe, but Casey didn't notice; she was too busy singing in harmony to 'Happy Birthday' while Derek watched her incredulously. Emily then turned around and caught Sam's eye, they shared a knowing look; Casey was wearing Derek's jacket, and something was up.

After the candles were blown out and there was a round of applause, the cake was passed around. When a plate was passed to Casey, Derek quickly snatched it away.

"DE-REK!" she cried

"I'm hungry!" he stated with a mouthful of cake

"And you couldn't have waited for like 2 seconds?"

"Why don't you?" he responded, as another plate was handed to Casey

"Because that was MY piece!" she whined, ignoring the plate in front of her.

"Aw quit being a baby, you have another piece now and it makes no difference."

"That's not the point! It's just rude to take someone else's plate!"

"That's what you're trying to prove?" he asked "Fine…you still want your slice?" he said opening his mouth wide.

"De-REK!" she protested, disgusted.

By now, the entire table had turned to watch them bicker.

Casey finally caught on to the fact that the majority of the table was watching them, and turned back to her plate, looking down and blushing. Derek smirked and resumed eating Casey's original piece. The rest of the table assumed that the show was over and returned to their previous conversations. Casey mumbled to Derek, still looking down and blushing;

"I cannot believe you did that…"

"Really? Because I figured it was believable. After all, pigs ARE pigs."

For some reason, this caused Casey to burst into a fit of silent giggles, and Derek looked at her in confusion.

"Oookay, one question, no biggie…what the hell is wrong with you?" He whispered harshly as a few people turned to watch Casey laughing uncontrollably. Her laughter subsided as she answered;  
"Geez, I have no idea."

"Maybe it's Derek's jacket that's making you crazy," suggested Emily. Sam chuckled to himself, knowing that Emily was trying to wrench something out of the two.

"Oh crap! I forgot to give it back, here Derek…" in a hurried frenzy Casey tried to get out of his jacket.

"The damage is done…besides, if I took it, I'd have to carry it around, since I'm not cold and all." He said, putting and arm on Casey's shoulder to stop her, which surprisingly, seemed to have a calming affect on her. Emily and Sam shot each other a look of pure surprise as Casey smiled at Derek and they returned to their plates as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Something was definitely changing between the two stepsiblings. Sam and Emily excused themselves and found a secluded area in which they could talk.

"SO," Emily began "Casey and Derek…"  
"Getting along?" Sam questioned  
"No, no…I've seen them getting along before, this is different…"  
"Getting along MORE?" Sam suggested  
"No, no…if they were just getting along, it would only be when they found it necessary. Derek has been genuinely nice to Casey…well for the most part,"  
"And their fighting is more playful than hurtful…I see where you're going!" finished Sam.

"They're SO into each other!" said Emily  
"They're finally becoming friends!" said Sam, simultaneously.  
"No!" they said. "Yea!" they both responded. Emily began laughing.  
"Wow Sam, that was too much…"  
"I know, can we stop talking at the same time. It's confusing me."  
"Obviously lots of things are confusing you, because otherwise you'd see that they have feelings for each other!"  
"Derek? Casey? Noo… she's not his type, and visa versa. It wouldn't work!"  
"That doesn't mean it's not there!" retorted Emily "I must say, on top of getting along better, I've caught Casey looking at Derek in class during the past month or so."  
"Well, Derek has looked at Casey too, but…he was probably thinking of a prank!"

Emily simply shrugged her shoulders and went back to the table. Sam decided that he'd pay more attention to the situation between his friends and followed.

As he reached the table, Sam noticed Derek give a large obnoxious yawn; Casey quickly rushed to cover his open mouth with her hand. He turned to Emily, who just gave him a look, and turned back to her plate.

When the cake was done, and the plates cleared, Derek noticed Ralph walking up to their area. He quickly grabbed Casey's hand pulled her out of her chair, turned to Emily and said, "Come on. Let's go home." Emily shot Sam a puzzled expression as she pulled out her chair and walked away from the table. Sam followed, and by the time Ralph reached the table, they were all gone.

"I could've sworn they were here a second ago, right Sally?" he said, turning around. Sally wasn't there. Ralph stopped, completely confused and then shrugging his shoulders went back to find her.

In the driveway, Derek was already getting into the car, while Casey was saying goodbye to Sam and Emily, who had decided to stay a bit longer.

"You sure you're ok with getting Emily home?" Casey asked Sam for the millionth time.

"Yes, Casey. All is well. Go home!"

With Casey in the car, Emily turned to Sam with a Derek-worthy smirk. Hopefully some good would come out of this car ride. Sam wasn't so sure, but smiled back anyways. After all, Emily did have quite a bit of hallway research to back up her ideas.

--

**AN/ I saw the yawning thing with this couple on the train, thought it was cute. Ralph is funny, don't be mad at him, or at me about the Sally thing, he's just kind of oblivious…poor Ralph :(**

**P.S. OMG, Derek was so cute in that last episode :D, even though it gave me this nagging feeling that Dasey might not happen… :(**

**Oh well, writing stories about it is still fun I guess…anyone care to find me hints of Dasey in DDD? I need to renew my faith! (Geez, I sound like some religious nut job, lol…no offense to anyone.) THE DASEY FAITH! hehe**

**OK, my excuse for this madness: it's late.**

**I need to shut up.**

**I'll post this tomorrow.**

**Review bitchezz! (Yet again, purely jest…I love you all, you're not bitches. I swear.)**

**'rw4life, SHUT UP!' what? Who said that? Me? Nah not me…**

**Chill.**


	5. In the Driver's Seat

****

AN/ OMG, Completely forgot to thank white-doe for her help on the last chapter, and her CONTINUOUS REVIEWS throws cookies ANYWAYS, this time I won't beg for reviews, even though I probably should, considering how many I've been getting... and I won't have a novel of an authors note, so here goes my writers block chapter!

Derek got comfortable in the drivers seat, closed the door and began buckling up. He turned to see if Casey was buckled and noticed that she was sitting on the edge of her seat, unbuckled and the door still open. She looked at him expectantly…

"Yes?" he questioned

"Well you see…"she responded, "I feel like I haven't really had a chance to drive this car. I mean, we had agreed to share, but I feel that I'm not being granted this end of the agreement." Derek raised his eyebrows "I want to drive." Casey declared.

"NOPE. I don't want to be in the car to witness a girl drive my manly car in a girly way. End of story."

"MANLY car?" Casey asked skeptically while pointing to the bright pink, strawberry scented car freshener hanging from his mirror.

"That was a gift from Sally, who refused to go anywhere with me in this car unless I took care of the smell." He mumbled uncomfortably.

"Ah, yes…let's talk about SALLY, shall we?" said Casey, opting to stay in the passenger seat.

"Here, you can drive." Derek stated, tersely unbuckling and exiting the car.

Casey was, to say the least, shocked. She knew he only did it to escape confrontation, which was inevitable either way, but figured she would take advantage and scooted over into the drivers seat while Derek occupied her previous place.

"AH, the power of being behind the wheel!" she stated contentedly.

"Alright, no need to go all power crazed now. Drive." He replied off-handedly while staring out the window. But Casey had no intention of leaving just yet. She turned off the car engine, which caused Derek to look over at her questioningly.

"Alright. I know you don't do 'feelings', but I just want to know why you were determined to leave the party so early. And you don't have to include anything about feelings." She finished, clearly implying that though he didn't HAVE to, she would prefer it that way.

Knowing that she would never leave if he didn't respond, Derek decided to give her an almost honest answer.

"Sally was at the party with Ralph, and then I saw Ralph walking to our table and I didn't want to deal with it, so I left."

"RALPH?" Casey asked.

"Yeah, but he probably wasn't aware of it. I mean he is Ralph after-all." He reasoned, surprised that talking to Casey had helped him grasp how he felt about what Ralph had done.

" So, you basically just didn't want to run the risk of bumping into Sally…" Derek nodded at Casey's conclusion "Why?" she pried.

"Why? WHY?! Really Casey? We broke up, that's why! I answered your question so lets go." He said angrily.

Casey mutter a simple 'oh' and turned the engine back on quietly and began driving.

"Umm, Case? You forgot to put on your seatbelt…"

"OH CRAP!" She shrieked while coming to an incredibly sudden stop in the middle of the road. She quickly buckled up, as if that one second that she hadn't would be her last.

"Thanks." She sighed

"Yeah," Derek replied, prying his fingers from the dashboard, where he had been clutching onto for dear life "don't mention it, and don't EVER stop like that again."

"Scared?" Casey challenged

"No, just don't wanna get killed…" he retorted

Casey simply smirked and began driving again. After a few seconds, Derek turned to look at Casey. She had both hands gripping the steering wheel tensely, and her eyes focused straight on the road ahead.

"You look funny driving the car like that and wearing my jacket," he observed smiling.

"Why? Used to a reckless driver wearing it?" She smirked back.

" Yeah, I guess you can say that." He said, looking back out of the window again. His lack of a retort made Casey nervous.

"I don't look too ridiculous though, right?" She said, turning to him worriedly

"No, it's cute. I mean, uhh, funny." He mended, caught off guard.

"Aww, Derek thinks I'm cute!" Casey joked.

"No, no, not you, just the whole scenario in general. And I didn't say cute, I said funny!"

"I was kidding Derek, no need to get so defensive," she replied smirking "although that did just prove that you find me cute!" she finished, grinning.

Derek just sighed and looked out the window again. "Whatever you say Spacey."

After another silence Casey spoke, "Listen, I'm sorry for prying, it's not my business, about you and Sally."

"You're right, it's not." He said rudely, but seeing her grow quiet and unhappy changed his tone "And I'm sorry for snapping at you. There was no need."

Casey looked over at Derek and smiled a sincere smile. "Thanks Derek. That means a lot to me." Derek simply shrugged and looked back out the window.

They pulled up the driveway. Casey unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for her purse. "Wait" Derek stopped her by reaching his arm over her abdomen. She paused her search.

"The rents will be curious about why we came home so early…"

"And?" Casey pushed " Just tell them the truth. They'll get it."

"No they won't, and no I won't. Can we just stay put for like 15 minutes, I don't want to answer a bunch of questions." Casey simply rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat.

"You owe me," she whispered, shutting her eyes.

" No, I think our debts are all settled now." He responded, smirking and leaning back as well.

Casey simply shook her head exasperatedly and went with it. What he said was somewhat true, and she didn't mind staying in the nice, warm, comfy drivers seat…

She awoke with a start an hour later. "Shit!" she exclaimed as she sat up and her head hit the ceiling. She checked the clock. "Shit!" she repeated. They had less than 5 minutes 'till curfew. She turned to a fast asleep Derek in the passengers seat. "Derek!" she whispered. He didn't stir. "DEREK!" she said a bit louder, nudging his shoulder. Still fast asleep.

"He's just as bad as Marti!" she exclaimed, nudging him some more.

"Mfmmm, just 5 more minutes dad…" he said, rolling over.

"Sorry, _honey_, but I'm NOT your dad and we don't HAVE 5 minutes. Now GET. UP!" she exclaimed shoving Derek forcefully until he hit his head on the window.

"AW SHIT!" he yelled, rubbing his temple "What was THAT for!" he said turning to Casey.

"Sleeping beauty finally got up now, didn't she." She said mockingly.

"I could say the same for you, _beauty_." He said sarcastically "You've got some drool on your cheek by the way." Casey squeaked as she wiped her face with the back of her sleeve. Derek simply laughed. "OH YOU JERK!" she shrieked, hitting Derek with her purse.

"OUCH, watch it Case! You wouldn't want to hurt this beauty…" he said beckoning to his face. With that, Casey paused, Derek smirked and a second later a purse hit him flat across the face. Now Casey was the one laughing.

"AH!" he exclaimed, shocked and worried. He reached for the mirror, and adjusted it to examine the damage more closely. This caused Casey to laugh even harder. "Alright _gorgeous_, lets go home." She laughed, reaching for the door.

"Not so fast, goody-two-shoes." Derek smirked before tackling Casey. Casey shrieked and ducked, but there was only so far one could go in a locked car. In the end, Derek won. The driver's seat had somehow been tilted completely horizontally in the fight and Derek now had Casey's arms pinned up above her head, and was straddling her waist. Casey continued to try and fight him off while Derek smirked.

"No way McDonald. I win. I always win." Casey eventually stopped fighting him.

"Alright, _**D**__…_you got me. But its past curfew, so let go!" she said trying to get her hands free.

"I don't think so," Derek laughed "we'll already be in trouble, so what's a few minutes gonna do?"

Casey attempted to cross her arms across her chest in a stern way, but unfortunately, they were restrained. She contented herself with a 'humph,' which simply caused Derek to laugh some more.

They stayed in this position for a few more moments, both subconsciously cherishing this instant. Their eyes were locked. Casey was finding it almost impossible to breath.

The etch of a smirk disappeared from Derek's face and suddenly a nervous Casey found herself facing a serious Derek. The car grew hotter, and Casey found that she wasn't as eager to go home as she had been before. This scared her. It was past curfew and it didn't seem to matter to her anymore. That was so unlike her.

Derek noticed Casey's flushed cheeks and the compromising position that they were in. He wanted to freeze this instant. He leaned his face closer to Casey. Then he felt another pair of lips pressed against his, and he didn't know who had closed the gap but it didn't seem to matter. It was a short kiss, but it felt so _right._

****

AN/ Hehe, an almost cliffy, hope you liked. Keep up the helpful reviews, those who are actually reviewing.

**AND REVIEW MORE! Come on, like 2 reviews on that last one? Be happy I'm not ending the story right here. HA!**

**OH, Just so you know, this past week I've been waking up in the middle of the night with random Dasey inspirations and been unable to go back to sleep without writing my ideas in the notebook I keep by my bed. Let me tell you, there are some really random ideas in there. Strawberry car freshener was one of them. I may use the rest of them in some other stories. Be prepared. **


	6. Wrong?

**AN/ HERE IT GOES! THANKS FOR ALL YOUR LOVELY REVIEWS!**

It was a short kiss, and it was so _wrong. _Casey felt Derek's grip on her arms loosen. She wrenched her arms away and pushed Derek off of her. "Shit." She said for the third time that day "_shit…"_ She sat up quickly avoiding Derek's eyes, picked up her purse, and exited the car.

She walked quickly to the back door, and leaned against the doorframe with a sigh. She slowed her breathing, fixed her mussed dress and reapplied her lip-gloss. She walked into the living room with a fake smile plastered over her face. George and her mom were fast asleep on the couch, her mom leaning against George's chest with a contented smile. Casey turned off the T.V. and quietly pulled a blanket over the two. She sighed again and kissed the top of her mom's head. "I'm sorry mom," she whispered to herself before making her way up the stairs.

Derek stood in the shadows of the living room doorway watching this interaction. He watched as she shuffled her way up the stairs. Once she was gone he sat in his recliner next to 'the _parents_.' Was it really so wrong? He was just caught up in the moment after all. It wouldn't turn into anything more. Besides, there was that _step_ before the _sister._ He sighed quietly. What was he doing? The Derek Venturi does NOT sigh, especially over a girl. Especially over his stepsister. He emptied his mind, and for some reason pictured Casey telling him that emptying his mind shouldn't be that hard of a task for him. He smirked to himself, and then shook himself again. '_Man up Venturi' _he thought to himself. He left his recliner and made his way up the stairs. He passed Casey's slightly opened door and was worried to find that she wasn't in her room. He heard the tap run, and felt comforted.

What was going on? Worried that Casey wasn't in bed? Checking on her? He never cared before. And kissing wasn't unusual for him, so why would this suddenly change everything?

In the bathroom Casey was washing her face for the hundredth time. The faint blush in her cheeks didn't seem to be going away, and every time she pictured that brown-haired _jerk_ it returned in an even darker shade. She gripped the edge of the sink and pressed her forehead against the mirror. What was she doing? It's not like she'd ever let that happen again, and there were no feelings attached, so it shouldn't have such an enormous effect. She turned away from the mirror and began pacing.

But _Casey_? Kissing without any feelings attached? That was nothing like her! Then again, she wasn't the one who initiated the kiss, **and** she pulled away. But _did _she make the first move? No, of course not. But suddenly she couldn't remember the events leading up to that moment. All she could remember was the feeling of his warm lips against hers, and the spark that had shot up her spine. '_Oh great'_ she thought to herself, catching her reflection in the mirror. She bent over the sink and turned the tap on.

--

The next morning Derek woke up to the smell of pancakes. He stretched out in his bed before rolling out ungracefully and opening his door. He passed Casey's door and suddenly the events of the night before came back to him. He suddenly lost his appetite and felt a bit nauseous. It was like a Casey hangover. He turned back around and unceremoniously dropped back into his bed. Just five more minutes he thought to himself.

Casey used the bathroom and washed her face. The feeling of cold water on her skin brought her back to the events she had been trying to forget that entire night. She turned off the tap, dried her face and left the bathroom. She heard Derek's door close and quickly made her way down the stairs. She sat across from Lizzie at the kitchen table and greeted everyone with a cheery 'good morning!'

Nora walked over to Casey with a stack of pancakes at hand. "Why Casey, you look flushed. Are you alright?" Casey muttered a yes and began picking at her pancakes. "And where were you and Derek last night? You missed curfew." Casey felt embarrassed and guilty. What would her mother think if she knew the exact reason for their being late?

"Oh, umm. We left a bit late, because I offered to help clean up." She offered, and Nora bought it.

"My guess is that Derek wasn't too happy about that?" Nora smiled.

How _did _Derek feel about last night's events? He surely didn't toss and turn all night replaying it in his head, thinking about what it all meant. "Yeah. He threatened to leave me there." She replied instead. Would he just leave it at that? Pretend it didn't happen? She sort of hoped he would, I mean, it didn't mean anything after all. "Oh the nerve!" said George joining the conversation. "Well it's only cause he didn't want to miss curfew." Casey defended. Why was she defending him? God, things really do change because of one simple kiss. But was it simple? And was it wrong?

He couldn't do it. He couldn't go back to sleep. He was determined to get just 5 more minutes, and though he told himself that he felt sick, his stomach had a mind of its own, and damn those pancakes smelled good. He couldn't lay there in his bed tormenting himself in this way, although he wasn't looking forward to the awkwardness he would be faced with in the kitchen. But those pancakes…

He'd do it. He'd risk it all and go downstairs. Knowing Casey, she would try and talk about it anyways, so why not get it out of the way. Ok, two more minutes and he was down there. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. Why was he perspiring?! ON HIS HANDS! Oh man, he was really not looking forward to the changes in their behavior towards each other. He opened his door and trudged slowly to the top of the stairs. He slowly made his way down, counting the steps as he went along. _One, two, three, four…_

"Smerek's up!" shrieked Marti from Derek's recliner. She was the only one who could get away with that. She jumped off the chair and crashed herself into Derek for a hug.

"Marti!" exclaimed Derek, picking her up off the ground. She was the only person who could make him feel better without trying. He swooped her up and down while walking to the kitchen making airplane noises. He dropped her on a stool and reached for the milk carton.

"Umm, Derek?" said a stern Nora, holding out a glass.

"Right." He responded, remembering last night with her daughter, his stepsister. Only then did he realize that Casey had been sitting at the end of the counter watching the entire display. He plopped down on the stool next to Marti and poured himself milk as Nora handed him a plate of pancakes. Marti had already proceeded to retell a detailed dream about bunnies. Derek listened half heartedly, watching Casey out of the corner of his eye. It was only slightly awkward.

Casey tuned out the second Marti said the word 'bunny,' and focused all her attention on the moving the strawberry slice around on her plate. Of course, she also took an occasional peek at Derek, who was sitting a seat away and devoting all of his attention to the pancakes on his plate. She looked down again. What was she doing? This was awkward! She quickly excused herself and ran up the stairs to her room.

Almost the entire day was spent this way. Both teens avoided each other at any cost, and found themselves taking occasional glances at one another. Ed and Lizzie noted a slight change, but the rest of the family remained blissfully oblivious. Dinner was called, and the two were forced to take their seats across from each other and act as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. And if the two believed what they were trying to tell themselves, it wouldn't be so hard, but at this rate…

"Lizzie, pass the peas?" Casey asked/demanded.

"But they're by Derek's elbow…" Lizzie replied, confused.

"Right," noted Casey "Edwin, pass the peas please?"

Edwin shot Lizzie a confused look, and nudged Derek. Derek grunted and handed the bowl to Edwin, who then handed it to Casey.

"Thank you." Casey said.

"Alright, what's going on?" asked Ed

"Nuffin," replied Derek with a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"De-REK!" protested Casey, "No need for anyone to be subjected to your chewed food!"

Derek was almost glad that they were back to their usual banter.

"Wha'?" he questioned, mashed potato oozing from his mouth "They were already mashed!"

Edwin sighed contentedly, Lizzie shrugged her shoulders, Nora rolled her eyes and George rested his face in his palms. Marti continued to find other words that rhymed with peas, please, sneeze, cheese, squeeze…

After dinner, the family decided to watch a movie together. Casey excused herself, claiming to have work and a headache from Derek's 'antics,' while the rest of the family took their places in front of the T.V. screen. As the opening credits to The Incredibles began, Derek found himself zoning out. He had expected a confrontation from Casey, she _always_ wanted to talk. He had found himself alone with her on two separate occasions that day, and both times she had either excused herself or run off without giving any reason. Derek was confused and had seen this movie loads of times. He got off his recliner, and after warning Ed not to even _think_ of sitting in it, went upstairs. He had meant to go straight to his room, listen to some music, go online or something, but for some reason found himself stopping in front of Casey's door. He knocked lightly and heard a faint 'come in.' He paused, was he REALLY doing this? He hated talking. And talking to _Casey_, about…well, what happened? He was having some serious issues. "I said come in!" he heard coming from the room. And before he could talk himself out of it, he found himself in Casey's room.

**AN/ So there it is, haha, I miscounted chapter 4s reviews, my bad. But here, I'm posting sooner than I posted the other one. Hope you liked, I liked. **

Sorry if you were expecting Dasey to the extreme after the kiss, but that would be unrealistic? :(

**OMG, yesterday, my history teacher was talking about Canada and how we know nothing about it and don't study it in school, so I woke up. And like six seconds later someone brought up their family (don't ask) and she began talking about blended families and, and I was like, 'huh? You watch LWD too?' :)**

**Then she tried teaching us the Canadian national anthem. Strange woman**.


	7. Questions

**AN/ This chapter is going to be a lot of talking between the two. Sorry i took so long, but I had like shitloads of problems writing this chapter. I still hate it, but there was no way for me to fix it. I hate when I'm unhappy with a chapter…then my updates start to slow and I run out of things to write. I'm hoping this isn't the case for this story, because I liked it so far :( **

"Oh." Said Casey, upon seeing who had entered her room. He simply took a seat at her computer chair and inched it closer to the bed she was resting on. Casey put her book down and turned off her stereo. She sat up. "What do you want?" she demanded.

"Oh you should already know," replied Derek, almost smugly.

Casey blushed and looked down. Why was he bringing this up? It was one thing she REALLY didn't want to talk about, and he should want to either!

"Yes and?" she mumbled instead.

"What do you mean _and?_" he asked incredulously "This entire day has been incredibly uncomfortable, and now YOU, _queen_ of talking refuses to talk? I'm surprised I'm even in here initiating this conversation; I expected that you would've grabbed any chance you had _to talk_. Why the hell have things been so weird?"

Casey simply shrugged. How was Derek supposed to know that she had been backing out of talking to him all day? That she had found herself in front of his door on many occasions, only to back out at the last second and go back to her room?

Derek sighed exasperatedly. This was going to take a long time. He _hated_ talking, and trying to talk to someone who refused to talk was going to be even harder for him. But he had to do it; because otherwise he'd get no sleep again, and things would be awkward again and that was something he didn't want to deal with even _more_ than he didn't want to deal with talking. So here he was, pacing.

"Its just awkward." He heard from the bed. Oh thank God she had decided to speak! He sat down again.

"I mean," she continued "something like that has never happened to me before. And especially with you… I hated you for an entire year before I got used to your ways, and now this?"

Derek nodded in agreement "Believe me, I wasn't expecting anything like this either. Ever." Casey smiled. Now she was glad they were talking.

"And I don't want things to change," admitted Casey "I mean it was just a kiss, wasn't it?" She finished, looking at Derek, questioningly. And he wanted to answer 'yes' so badly, but he was stuck. For some reason, the word seemed to have slipped out of his mind, and he couldn't get himself to nod either. She continued to look at him, and Derek just sat there, looking down with a dumbstruck expression on his face. 'It was, IT WAS!' his mind screamed at him, but it wasn't coming out.

"Derek?" she asked again, softly.

"I don't know…" Derek found himself saying, 'But you do! YES!!' his brain screamed at him.

"Oh." Replied Casey, at a loss for words for the second time. She looked down again, and suddenly Derek found himself staring at her, full of the same feelings he had with Sally.

"Case…" he muttered, and she looked up. Their eyes locked, and Casey felt the tingle up her spine, and Derek almost kissed her again. But he stopped himself an inch from her face.

"I don't know what's going on." He said, getting off her bed, not knowing when he even got that close to her. He raked his hands through his hair and began pacing again, while Casey calmed the butterflies in her stomach.

"I think we need to keep talking," she said calmly, quite the opposite of how she was feeling " otherwise we'll never figure it out."

"Yeah, talking." He replied softy, sitting in her computer chair again, and as far from Casey as possible.  
They didn't know who should start the conversation again. Casey knew she had nothing to say; she was still in shock from his previous comment.

"Did I kiss you, or did you kiss me?" Derek asked, breaking the silence. Casey shrugged and muttered, "You I think."

"Yeah…" replied Derek, he was now aware that it was up to him to keep this conversation going. He sighed.

"I don't know why I did it Case. Let me tell you that. But for once, I had fun with you, and I don't know, I was caught up in the moment." He said, getting up and pacing again, he stopped suddenly, as if coming to a realization. "And, I think I l-liked kissing you." He finished, surprised.

And Casey was surprised too, to say the least.

"I _liked _kissing you. YOU, Casey, my stepsister." He said again, stronger, turning to face Casey.

"Why?" she asked quietly.

"I told you I don't know... What's wrong with me? I liked kissing my sister!" he said, growing agitated. He sat down again and looked away.

"_Step." _Casey corrected quickly.

"Yeah, step…" he whispered, looking down at his hands.

"Derek…" Casey began, rising from her spot on the bed. "There's nothing wrong with you."

"Really Casey? Because you sure seemed to find what I did incredibly wrong, you even apologized to Nora for it. Which must mean that what I did was wrong and thinking that it was right must mean that I'm INSANE!"

"Derek…" she began again.

"NO, no more _Derek…_ you were right. It was just a kiss, we should just pretend it didn't happen." He said cruelly, beginning to leave the room.

"But maybe now I don't want to pretend that it didn't happen." She whispered, just loud enough for Derek to hear her. He turned to see her standing behind him, fidgeting with her hands. "We both know I probably wouldn't be able to pretend anyways, seeing as how I'm the worst liar ever…"

He found himself standing right in front of her again. He smirked, and whispered a "yeah," before he found himself kissing her again. And this time, because she had talked it out beforehand, Casey didn't find it nearly as wrong as she had before. He pulled away, "you are the worst liar ever."

**AN/ Ugh, sorry. That was awful. I think I'm gonna quit while I'm somewhat ahead unless you guys think I should keep on going with it. **_**REVIEWS would be helpful in letting me know!**_

**In any case, **_**I've had lots of Dasey ideas in my head, one story in the form of a script.**_** Let me know if you think I should risk writing it as a script, even though it's not allowed, or if I should try to change it.**

**ALSO, (wow, long note) I just watched Male Code Blue, and found it very obvious that Derek liked Casey then, and not even because of the "****Wait that's why we're fighting?" but because of the first thing Sam says when they're playing video games, about "the agony of defeat" being too painful for Derek, and then he goes on to imply stuff about the Casey situation. So it's as if he was talking about Casey and defeat, anyone following me here? And then Derek looks like overly sad about letting Sam talk to Casey, and acts as if letting them talk is the stupidest thing he could do. If it was just step-brotherly emotions that made him act like this, I'd think he was a big drama queen.Which he's not, leading me to believe that it's the feelings he has for Casey that makes him act like this. Phew, that confused me, my logic is quite incomprehensible, as you can see. But let me know if you get my drift! :)**


	8. The Beginning

"Casey hurry UP," Derek yelled up the stairs. They were going to be late to Lars' New Year's Party.

"One minute Derek, I need to fix my make-up!"

Derek just gave a loud annoyed sigh, and leaned against the banister once more.

"Ready!" he heard at the top of the stairs. He turned.

She floated down the stairs in a light pink flowing dress. Her hair was pulled back into an elegant ponytail, with a few strand of hair loose and framing her face. Their eyes caught. She tripped.

She fell forward and straight into Derek's waiting arms. "Klutzilla…" he smirked.

"Yeah, yeah…you keep on laughing," she replied wearing a similar smirk, "but I will find a way to get back at you."

"Oh really?" he questioned.

"Yup." She replied sincerely. He leaned in and kissed her.

"De-REK! We have to save the kiss 'till midnight!" she laughed, swatting his arm playfully.

"Ugh, I think that's punishment enough for the Klutz comment…" he pouted.

"Pouting never looked good on you, stick with the smirk." She called over her shoulder as she left the house.

Derek smiled at her retreating figure. It had taken a while to get used to their odd relationship, then it took a while trying to convince everyone else that it was right, but he was happy with it through all of their ups and downs. He quickly exited the house locking the door behind him.

Casey sat in the passenger seat waiting for him to come to the car. She swore she would leave without him if he didn't hurry up, but of course Derek wouldn't let her drive, especially since it was his 'brand new baby'. Never in her life had she seen anyone have so much affection for an inanimate object. Then again, she did buy it for him on their two-year anniversary. Nah, it was probably just the car.

At the party Casey ran to meet Emily, her best friend for life. She intended to stay with Emily past midnight as a method of torture for Derek. Of course Emily had her fiancé, Sam to be with, so Casey couldn't use her as a means of avoidance.

Casey sat in the kitchen and heard the countdown from the living room. 20, 19, 18,17…

Sure it was a way to torture Derek, but she wanted a midnight kiss with him too. She sighed. …10, 9, 8, 7…

Torturing herself was no way to torture Derek! She sat up quickly almost knocking the chair down in the process. She made a dash for the living room. She burst open the door and knocked into someone. …5, 4, 3…

"Thought you'd make me suffer?" A voice smirked "Too bad." His lips were on hers. …0

"Happy new year Mrs. Venturi."

**AN/ Obviously I've decided on a short epilogue. Hope you liked, **_**REVIEWS would be very nice!**_

_**I'm currently working on a new story in the form of a script**__**. **_**Let me know if you think****I should risk posting it as a script, even though it's not allowed, or if I should try to change it. I don't know how changing it would affect the storyline and I'm a bit uneasy about it, so let me know!**

**Thanks to all who reviewed or simply read, and remember...I don't own the wonderful thing that is LWD. End.**


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